50 Years Ago: November 1968

By Jim Ignasher

November of 1968 was an election year, and among the things Smithfield voters were asked to decide was a $7,000,000 sewer bond to appropriate money to replace septic systems with sewer lines. An article which appeared in a local newspaper at the time spoke of how the Woonasquatucket River was once routinely used for waste disposal. History has shown that the bond passed.

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Air Force Master Sergeant A. Howard Thornton of Greenville received the Bronze Star at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina for “meritorious service while engaged in military operations against Viet Cong forces” in Vietnam. M/Sgt. Thornton had also served in WWII and the Korean War.

Air Force Sergeant Paul Taubman of Greenville returned home after his tour of duty at Rhu Trang Air Force Base in Vietnam.

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The Berlin Wall that once separated East and West Germany was begun in 1961. By 1968, construction on the wall still continued, with armed guards watching over workers who might contemplate trying to escape to the west.

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150 children attended a program at the Greenville Public Library titled “This is Ballet”, during which a husband and wife ballet team demonstrated and spoke about the subject of ballet, and performed a short story titled “The Stranger” through ballet.

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On November 17, the infamous “Heidi Game” aired on national television.

What would autumn be without football? Top executives at one television network found out when they abruptly cut short the airing of a pro-football game between the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets. With just 65 seconds left in the game, and with Oakland trailing by three points, the network stopped broadcasting the game so it could begin its scheduled program of the movie “Heidi”. What football fans missed was a dramatic comeback by the Raiders, scoring two touchdowns and winning the game 43-32. The following day the network was flooded with angry callers, causing all future program planners from all networks to make sure such scheduling conflicts never occur again.

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On November 22, The Beatles released their famous “White Album” which was a double album that included two long playing records. Certain examples of this album are selling for hundreds of dollars at certain on-line websites, but today one can buy the album on CD for significantly less.